Chapter 5 The final overture: 5

I got to school some minutes after the assembly concluded. My third day at school and I was getting used to the environment. I branched the bursar's office, I stopped at the door post to check the money I took yesterday. I found six thousand naira, thank goodness. I walked in. I saw the woman

" Hello ma. Good morning ma..." I could only see her rear. She was doing something. Her hands were clasped under her nose and saying something silently. Praying, I guess. I didn't know whether to tap her or wait. She swivelled the chair round to see me.

" Good morning ma." I said, I didn't know if she was still in the process or she had stopped.

" Morning" she said and wheeled her chair to take a file from the big shelf behind. It was new when she opened it.

" Blade Oriowo right?" Damn, that name couldn't get out of her head.

" Yes ma." my eyes twitched.

" Let me have the money." I stretched out the money which I had rolled so she won't lose interest when counting it. She counted it and was disappointed when she stopped at the third bill.

" What is this?"

" My school fees ma." I said, She adjusted on the seat,

" You know, this exactly the amount we pay the gardener every three weeks." She said, " six thousand isn't the original instalment plan..." she reclined to rest her back and give a fact, " but since I am philanthropist, I will take it." She said with so much pride in the title.

" Thank you ma. I will bring the remaining soon."

" Okay." She closed her eyes like she was having an headache like she made a mistake telling me such; she risked losing her job. " I will give you two weeks to pay up. Or else, I'm going to haunt you if I lose my job."

" Yes ma."

Plan B. That was what I needed. I felt luck might not be on my side if I tried to go into my mum's room again. I walked to the classroom, once again. That time, they were already used to the way I looked so they didn't laugh, also that time my seat didn't look like a mile away... But, there was someone on my seat.

Raheem. He stood to my face as I reached him; it was the first time I would have a better view of his face. He was handsome, and I had heard many girls fantasized about him. The same other two boys I saw last time were standing by him. There were two other bullies in my life, one was my mum and the other one was Jesse- thinking of Jesse gave me a brilliant idea by the way. I looked at the one in front of me, considering that I had bigger bullies in my life and I was still alive, what worse could he do? I told him to leave. First, he tried to search my body with his eyes to know what part of my body gave me courage. No part of my body was stronger than a stale bread but I was from the street, we fight such things out. He was like two inches taller. He liked his lower lip like he was trying to accumulate saliva so he spit on my face. Apparently, he was trying to make his lip pinker. He placed his hand on my face, I pushed it off. He didn't attempt another, he left, hitting my shoulder hard.

" What did that idiot do to you?" said Lola, suddenly from behind me. I turned sharply.

" Nothing much, he only tried to take my face off." I laughed, alone.

******

I had an idea of meeting Jesse that evening after I ate the soaked cassava flakes. On my way, I relived the moment I had with Lola, smiled like I was really there and laughed out too loud for someone who was walking alone at the very funny moments. I nibbed a branch from a bush... I stripped it of its leaf as I imagined myself trying to think of something next to say to her. I was finally at Jesse's hangout, the stall of a gin retailer. Jesse, as appealing as the name sounds, was a graduate, but not with outstanding honors anyway. His story was so popular, parents used it as bed time stories and deterrents. He was many things; con artist, fraud, thief, handy man, thug-lord, anything-you-need man... And whenever he made money, he and his guys would sit their merry butt on the retailer's bench, and chatter, hoot, holler and make merry like what they drank tasted really good. I rehearsed over and over on how I was going to approach Jesse. His dead eye stare appeared as his laughter seized, seeing me coming over.

" Good afternoon sir " I said and felt my Adam's apple trying to go down my throat for good as he raised his head from his cup of gin. His bloodshot eyes felt like two Spears teasing my body but not ready to pierce through. One of his boys commented about me being disrespectful and he was about slapping my entire teeth out or sending me away but Jesse signalled to him.

" Why are you here? Has your sister sent you to apologize?" His voice was a bad mixture of tenor and Alto with alteration from years of drinking strong liquids. In other words, he spoke like a regular thug, those who talk with phlegm in their throats but he spoke like he was educated.

" Sir??" I might have been in trouble for saying such.

" Why are you here?!" He said

" I need your help." , He adjusted and poised like he wanted advance at me. There were like three bottles beside him. So he could just use one or two on me if he didn't like me.

" I need a job." Obviously, to his boys, our conversation was like an encrypted message; they had expected their boss to interpret but he didn't.

" What kind of job?" He drank a sip of his gin. He gave a wild sigh.

" I need any job that can gimme money." I said.

" Good boy. Taking responsibility at a young age." It felt so good that it was coming from someone like Jesse. " But you know, you can't bargain with the devil without your soul. So what do I get in return?"

" but...I don't have any money sir." He raised his eye balls under his lids, showing only a crescent of his irises. It meant I was doing bad business.

" I want to be in bed with your sister." He was talking about my mum. I could do anything to get money but I had conscience. " She's not my sister... she's my mum. " I saw his jaw fall... That time, he had to interpret to his boys. I learnt they had tried to woo her but she had always disappointed them. My mum had a particular breed of men she liked, Jesse and his boys weren't anywhere near it. I couldn't even imagine Jesse in my house, with my mum in the room in exchange for a job, It was revolting. All their hard-drinking lives, they thought my mum was my elder sister. After about two minutes of wonder, Jesse turned to me,

" That was a big revelation you just made to us by the way. About the job you asked for... Are you sure you came to the right person?" He said, I began to reconsider that. " Boy, just go home and read your books. Then you can get yourself a job." He said and finished the content, didn't believe it had finished, he kept trying to get that dregs into his mouth. I almost would have slapped that other guy speaking from Jesse; as that one was giving such fatherly advice at the wrong moment. My future ambition was to be... A rich man. Not rich in heart like that self-proclaimed motivational speaker living on top of us but rich in money. I stared at Jesse, whom despite his education, was a thug boss. Maybe he enjoyed the influence and the fear than wearing suits and ties... Many a times, he ate on credit in canteens (it is a different meaning here) around with owners cussing under their breath. Money also wasn't his problem. He could just stare at a person till the person dropped money in his hands. His silence sometimes was like death roaming, only a shout of agony announced his presence. But, sometimes it looked like he wasn't happy about it. Maybe that was the reason he told me to go study. It sounded like he was trying to get rid of me.

" Sir please i need a job. It's urgent", he told the woman to give him a second; he belched.

" What do you need this job for?" I picked the pressing issue and the best option to impress Jesse. " I want to pay my school fees." His eyes twitched, his forehead squeezed, " wait..." He said,

" isn't that the job of your parents?" , that question met me like snowball... The impact wasn't that painful, it only made me cold.

" Yes but I don't have a father anymore and my mum doesn't care. " I wanted to make her look like a villain.

" Wow..." He said. I watched as his boys stared at me, emotionless, not able to contribute to our conversation. I tried to imagine them turn against Jesse one day for all those times he must have done wicked things to them. I witnessed one; he stubbed cigarette on one of his boys' back, and I heard him scream do loudly whilst others laughed. He was one of those boys staring at me; bleached skin, yellow eyes, black lips and stolid face. He was one man, they were roughly around fifteen of them. Yet, they couldn't round him up and pulverize him.

He coughed out the phlegm in his throat and said to me, " You know what... How about I give you a loan, and sleep with your..." He knew he couldn't say mum. " - for two weeks. Fast and easy."

" No sir."

" One week, seven days?"

" It's the same with two weeks. No sir."

" One week, six days?"

" Sir... I don't want any deal involving my mum." Defeated, he stretched on the bench, " what do you want then?"

" How about I run errands for you for a month?" That was the best my little-man mind could think of. " No." He didn't even allow my words get through to him.

" Please sir..." I knew he wasn't satisfied with the deal. I had one kind of feeling, I didn't know why, but I knew in some way; he was going to breach the deal in some way. He eventually agreed, instead he said he wanted his money back with interest. He added the longer the time it takes to pay his money, the more the interest.

" How much do you need?" he asked. I told him my school fees and I added some icing and toppings. Like he knew I was going to come to him, he brought out a bill to count. His boys yelled in wild excitement and hailed. They were disturbing his concentration so he told them to stop. He placed the money in my little hand, and I observed that one of his fingers was missing. I thanked him and made my way home with it. I could feel Jesse and his boys' eyes on my back. I increased my walk speed, smiling to myself but not too much, so those men won't see my swollen cheek from behind.

" That was very easy."I said to me, and tucked the money in my pocket, my hand still in it, feeling its crispiness. New shoes, new clothes, what else? I lost one arm of the glasses that afternoon.

I had the room to myself. Grandma was sitting outside, like a stand-by camera, watching as the world moved, Solomon was with some of his friends outside playing street and my mum was probably with one man. I brought out the money, slipped them consecutively as I counted them. The more the money slipped between my hand, the wider my mouth opened...